


Riore - A New Beginning

by MiruGremory



Category: Original Work
Genre: Angst, Draconic/dragon-like Dovakhiin | Dragonborn, Fantasy, Gen, Isekai, Magic, Magic-Users, Multi
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-06-16
Updated: 2019-06-16
Packaged: 2020-05-12 19:34:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,415
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19235704
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MiruGremory/pseuds/MiruGremory
Summary: Guy finds a book,Dies.What else did you expect?





	1. Prologue : Rain Storm

**Author's Note:**

> Just a mess of ideas thrown into a single story, and is probably the most dedication I've had to a single story.  
> Through a mix of procrastination and distractions, I have been slow to update the story, but due to my younger sister Skizzers (My Beta) I have finally decided to post on this site, and hopefully spend more time on it.
> 
> I hope you all enjoy the story to come.

The sound of rain could be heard as it slammed into the concrete around me while I hastily made my way towards the coffee shop down the road. _Why did it have to start pouring, today of all days?_ Stopping just inside the clear glass doors, I took a moment to wipe any remaining water off myself, attempting to make myself look presentable. I checked my phone for the millionth time, and luckily I had time to spare. I had planned on being early in case I missed the bus but even with that I feared I didn’t leave myself enough time. _No sense in worrying about it now that I’m here,_ I thought to myself.

 

After ordering a coffee I picked out a table near the corner of the room, It wasn’t a busy day, the cashier just stood idly behind the till talking with her co-workers waiting for customers to arrive, while some other small groups crowded around tables with papers and computers placed messily in front of them. They looked like they were high school students, they must have been cramming for an upcoming test. _I remember how Mr. Jefferson would always throw last minute quizzes at us, giving us barely any time to study, these kids are lucky._ . By now I was halfway done my coffee, with a sigh I decided to check my phone. _Ugh, almost 15 minutes late huh? Guess I got stood up again._ I knew it was bound to happen, but it still hurts a little knowing that she decided not to come after all.

 

I don’t know why I stayed in the shop, maybe she would show up and was just late from the rain? It was a stupid thought that I grasped out of hope, but by now I knew for sure I had been stood up. _It’s probably for the best, I wouldn’t want to date me either,_ I begrudgingly thought as I stood up and started towards the exit. I had to walk past the table that was once crowded by the students, scraps of paper and a pencil or two were left on the desk, along with an oddly dull looking notebook. The cover was made of hard brown leather, held together by thick string, and strangely enough, it almost looked like it had a copper hue emanating from it. _Are my eyes playing tricks on me?_ I hesitated for a moment and took a look around, _how long have they been gone for? Ten, twenty minutes?_ It didn’t look like the staff planned on cleaning up the table anytime soon, so I grabbed the book and made my way to the exit. _Maybe I’ll be able to learn something new,_ I told myself, but really I think I just wanted something to distract myself from the regrettable ‘date’. I opened the book and checked the first few pages, but none of it was written in English, I recognized them as some type of runic alphabet. _Did they write it this way to hide something?_ I shrugged and closed the book, holding it against my stomach as I walked back out into the rain, although I made no effort to rush to the bus stop this time and instead decided to walk home. The rain always seemed to calm me down, I could remember watching it splatter against my window, watching as it would break apart and trickle down into larger groups, I could remember the smell just after it rained, when everything felt refreshing. The last thing I could remember was hearing a horn honk off too my side and the screech of metal on pavement.

The next thing I saw was floating raindrops, no, they had been slowed nearly to a stop. I stood back and watched as the car slid across the wet pavement; my body being thrown from the impact. I watched, dumbstruck not knowing how to feel, or was I even able to feel anymore? I looked down at myself, unable to process what I was seeing before my very eyes, I didn’t look hurt, I didn’t feel hurt, am I just hallucinating? When I looked back up everything was white, and something stood in front of me, it looked like a small lizard with wings, the weirdest part about it is that it looked right back up at me and for a moment I could have sworn I saw fire in its eyes.

 


	2. Chapter One: An Unfamiliar Land

When I came to, I was in a room laying on a bed. In a panic I stood up and looked down at myself, running my hands across my body. Nothing felt broken, and I didn’t feel any pain; I let out a sigh of relief. _It must've been a nightmare,_ I told myself, but when I looked back up I saw something lying on the floor. _It almost looks like a dragon from a medieval fantasy movie…no, it is one,_ I told myself, I struggled to swallow, I didn’t even want to move from my place.

 

“You have awoken, Young One.” The words were burned into my mind. I tripped backwards and found myself on the floor. _Did this thing… just talk to me? Where’d the bed go?_

“This is the room of parting, think of it as your own personal stop on the trip to the afterlife. I am sorry Young One, but you are no longer in your own world.”

It’s words struck my heart, into my very soul. _My dream, it actually happened? That means…_

“That’s right, You have passed on, but now you must choose a new path.”

I hesitated before picking myself up off the floor, _Could this thing hear my thoughts? What does it mean I have to choose a new path?_ I slowly approached the creature that had seated itself in the center of the room, but it was only once I had gotten closer than I noticed it was sitting on the same notebook I picked up the previous day. _Earlier today?_

 

“Naturally, upon a humans death, they would be carried to either Heaven or Hell. Although it appears you came in contact with my grimoire. As such, you may choose. Young One, do you wish to continue on the natural path, or do you wish to be reborn?”

 _What was this thing saying?_ I didn’t understand any of it, or maybe I just didn’t want too. Looking around the room it almost looked like the walls were glimmering, I didn’t notice it at first but it was like my life was being replayed in front of me at an accelerated rate. If I choose to pass on, what’s going to be waiting for me? I wasn’t very successful, I worked a part-time job at a local fast food place, I didn’t do very well in school, and I didn’t really have any friends. Looking back on my life, I don’t think I ever lived at all, almost as if all the years just drifted b., I wasn’t exactly the nicest person, being shunned by everyone growing up left me with a bitter personality when it came to high school. Was I going to be punished for how I treated others?

 

I sat there, lost in thought. I didn’t know how much time had passed as I watched my memories being replayed in front of me, but what finally caught my attention was the small creature standing up; no, more appropriately, it was a small crimson coloured dragon.

“The time to choose is now, Young One. Look around you, this place isn’t long for the world.” I hadn’t noticed it before but the walls of the room had slowly eroded, everything started to turn white as if it was being erased.  
“I-I choose to be reborn. If it means I get another chance at living I’ll take it.” Just then, I swear I heard the dragon laugh.

“Very well then. Come, place your hand on my grimoire and I will bind you.”

I didn’t understand what the creature meant, but I did as I was told anyway. I walked towards him and placed the palm of my hand on the top cover of the book. It felt warm. The next thing I knew the room around me collapsed in a wave of white light.

 

When I awoke everything around me was pitch black. Below me I could feel the cold, rough ground, I didn’t know where I was. More importantly, where was the dragon from before? I didn’t understand what had happened to me, but I didn’t feel like staying here any longer. It took my eyes a while to adjust but I could finally make out the walls around me, it looked like I was underground, maybe inside of a cave? Around me there were wheelbarrows and chipped rocks covering the ground. I wasn’t sure where I should go but I figured If I followed the iron tracks I would eventually find the entrance. I let out a groan as I finally reached the entrance. _How long has it been? One, two hours?_ I couldn’t think straight, scraps covered my arms and legs, and my muscles felt like they were on fire but it felt so relieving to finally be in the sunlight.

 

I took a look around, I could tell this place was nothing like the city I had just been in before. There wasn’t the normal noise you would expect, no cars, no foul taste in the air. It was oddly unnerving, all of those familiar sounds were just gone. I managed to pull myself upright against the mouth of the cave. It felt good to finally rest after crawling the entire way, taking another look ahead of me I could see the orange sun setting over the horizon, and just below it almost looked like a camp of some form.  
_The only problem now is, where exactly am I? Should I head down and try to introduce myself? The dragon didn’t exactly tell me what was going to happen, am I supposed to figure it out myself?_

I don’t know what to do, so I just decided to sit there,rest and tend to my scrapes, I didn’t have anything to cover them with, but I thought it was best to at least clear any dirt out of the scratches. Is my lack of strength part of being ‘reborn?’ I really wish the dragon explained what was going to happen to me, or what that book did.

I reached down and touched my left arm, the last thing I can remember is touching the cover of that book. I don’t know what to think about anything, my entire life was tossed upside down over the last few days. Wait, has it been days? It’s impossible for me to tell, but it all feels like it happened only minutes ago.

 _Well worrying about what I don’t know won’t help me now,_ I thought to myself, I guess I was more tired than I thought, or maybe it was because I felt something hit the back of my head; I landed face first into the dirt with my vision going cloudy before two sets of arms lifted me off the ground. I managed to get one last looked at my assailants, a stout looking man was holding a shovel talking to the others that had lifted me. I couldn’t make out any of the words, or my surroundings as my vision faded.

  
  
  
  


When I had awoken it took me a few minutes to compose myself. My vision was still blurry at first and I couldn’t move around. Looking down at myself both my legs and hands were bound by rope, and I was.. stripped naked?! I didn’t understand what was happening, as I struggled against my bindings. _Why am I here, the last thing I can remember is making my way outside. Did someone find me and dragged me here? But, why would I end up naked?_

The only light entering this building was from a few small windows placed near the ceiling, it looked like I was in some kind of cell, barred from the outside to keep me locked within. Hay was scattered across the floor, although it was ground down from the wear of being walked and stood on. I must not have been the only one they kept locked up here. Across the room there was a single guard, armed with an axe. They were seated next to a small table, straining my eyes to look through the bars I could make out the faint resemblance of what used to be my clothes, scrunched up and thrown aside like trash in the corner of the room.

Every time I struggled against my bindings the guard would hit the bars to my cell while shouting something that I couldn’t understand. After a few failed attempts, and out of fear that they might do something to me if I continued, I gave up. I attempted to collect the hay into a pile that I could rest on in the far corner of the cell. I felt humiliated, I brought my knees up to my chest and rested my head on top of them. I couldn’t tell how much time had passed, occasionally a couple would visit the building and speak to the guard on duty. They would come up to the side of the cell and inspect me but I would stay curled up in my corner with my eyes to the floor. The only time I would move was when a young woman would come with food, the guard would reluctantly unbar the cage, she was dressed in rags, I could only assume what her role in this place could possibly be. She never said a word, but she always had a smile on her face. There wasn’t much time we could spend together, the guard always pulling her away and shouting something, whatever it was it always wiped the smile from her.

 _So this is it huh… I got reborn and for what, to end up as a prisoner? I can’t understand anything that is said here. Just what kind of place did that stupid creature bring me too?_ I dug my nails into my legs out of frustration. The image of my previous death flashing in my mind. _Did I get reborn to just die again? All that talk of a second chance at life, just to have it end up this way._ In defeat I just sat there in silence, unable to tell time apart from the few rays that would enter through the ceiling. I would wait until all the visitors disappeared before trying to fall asleep, but most nights it was a pointless endeavour. My thoughts, filled with fear, kept me up through to dawn. The taste of salt would enter my mouth as tears rolled down my cheeks, I didn’t want to die again. I had so much hope for things to be different this time only to have it all end before anything had begun.

 _Damn it!_ I hit the floor out of anger, which quickly turned to regret as I winced, holding my hand in pain. _Can I not do anything right? Why are they even keeping me locked up? They might as well just kill me and get it over with._ It was then that I heard the door slowly creak open. I didn’t care to look up, and it was probably just another guard coming in. If they wanted me out of here they could drag me out just like how they tossed me in here to start with. To my surprise, it wasn’t someone's hands that grabbed me once my cell door was opened, but instead it was the feeling of something being tossed on top of my naked body. I pulled my face up from my tear soaked knees and standing in front of me was someone dressed in a cloak, with what almost looked like a bandana pulled up across their mouth. They reached down while holding a small knife and cut through the ropes that had bound my hands and legs. They gestured to the clothes before turning their back, they walked to the table next to the now sleeping guard to look through the items on the table and to my surprise they made no sound as they moved. I used that time to dress myself, the clothes were a lot more primitive than my previous ones, I was dressed in the same tattered rags that the servants I saw entering the building had worn. After a minute they turned around and motioned for me to follow. I didn’t understand what was happening, but it didn’t seem like this person was in league with those that had put me in here to begin with.

I didn’t know what to expect, but I was desperate enough to follow anyone who could get me out of my imprisonment. I struggled to stand up, my legs numb from the day of them bound together, and I still had trouble gathering the strength to walk. I did my best to leave the building without making any noise and with each step I kept my eyes glued to the sleeping guard. My savior must have taken notice, because once we were out of the building they pulled one of my arms around their shoulders and started to walk me to the outskirts of the village, and into the woods that surrounded the area.

We didn’t go very far into the forest before we came across another group hidden within the trees. I was placed down against a nearby tree trunk, as the other three grouped together and began to talk. They must not have known that I don’t know the language, because they kept their voices down as they spoke. Looking back in the direction we came from, I could notice a small collection of lights gathering. My curiosity got the better of me as I walked towards them. I must have attracted the attention of the group behind me as the one who rescued me ran up behind me. The view ahead of us was a surprising one, the lights had been hand-held lanterns, carried by what looked like soldiers dressed in metal armour. They paced around the outskirts of the town, most likely looking for where I had disappeared too.

 _If I had still been there, what would have happened to me?_ I shook my head trying to ignore the thoughts, a hand was placed on my shoulder and when I turned around to see who it was, it wasn’t the same as the person who rescued me. It was a scruffy looking young man, dressed in a black cloak but I could tell at this distance that they were all hiding something under their clothes. He spoke a few words and started to walk in the opposite direction. It must have been the fact that I didn’t move, or maybe it was the confused look on my face but afterwards he made a motion for me to follow them. _What else do I have to possibly lose?_ I thought before I started to follow, the masked one of the group falling back to where I stood, helping me walk with the rest of the group just like when we escaped. I don’t know how far we had gone, but halfway through the trip I couldn’t feel my legs anymore and the further we had gone the slower we ended up travelling. _Why are they helping me? I can barely keep my eyes open_. I looked ahead as I stumbled, placing all my weight on the person supporting me.

I blinked, my surroundings looked different all of a sudden. I was just being carried through the woods so why am I inside of a building? I sat up holding my head trying to remember what happened to me, but no matter how hard I tried it wouldn’t come to mind. Looking around the room it turns out I wasn’t the only one there, it was a small room with multiple cots along the walls with a few others occupied. One thing stuck out in particular, it was obvious that no one in this room with me was human, as I looked around at the others who were asleep they almost looked like animals with tails and fluffy ears on top of their head. _Why was I put into this place with them, none of them are human!_ It felt like every hair on my body stood on end as I quickly sat up but I must have gotten up too fast because my head started to spin, causing me to fall over onto the floor with an audible thud. I reached out to grab the wooden pillars of the cot but it didn’t help me get my bearings; my surroundings still blurred beyond recognition. It took me a minute or two to get my bearings, and as I stumbled to get to my feet I felt a hand grasp my shoulder. Turning around I came face to face with a beautiful loli like silver-haired woman with red eyes who had a concerned look on her face. I slowly rose to my feet with her help but quickly sat on the cot as I felt my head started to spin again. _I guess using up all that energy after being locked up for so long really took its toll on my body._

“Thanks” I said while looking at the woman, but it was obvious that with the confused look that accompanied her face that she did not understand what I said. DIsappointed I looked down at the floor, unable to talk with anyone I tried to think of what to do next, it was obvious I was brought somewhere nicer than my last room and I think I can take it as a sign that it’s safe, since there are others here without and guards, but being unable to communicate is really starting to make things difficult. Why did they bring me here anyways?

After my incident I had decided to just lay down for a bit longer, there was no point in me trying to move around if I collapse each time. Looking around the room I tried to memorize as much as I could, not that I have anything else to do. Everyone was dressed in shabby clothes like I was, torn and worn out they looked like the kind you would throw out the moment you had the chance too and yet it was a very welcome change to being naked and cold inside of a cell. Some others seemed to be fast asleep or otherwise resting, while a small group of rather strong looking male creatures were grouped up in the corner talking amongst themselves. I could not tell exactly what I was looking at, it all seemed too bizarre.

The sound of a creaky door opening caught my attention and by the looks of things I wasn’t the only one. The others in the room stopped what they had previously been doing and gathered around in the center of the room. I wasn’t sure what was happening, so I just followed everyone’s example and joined them, in front of the group stood two figures dressed in brown robes, their hands placed in each arm sleeve. They seemed to be talking to all of us, but as I couldn’t understand any of it I just stood towards the back of the group pretending to be paying attention, and suddenly the group started to follow the two individuals.

 

I could only guess where I was brought, we were led to what looked like a very shabby kitchen where we were each given a very stale piece of bread before being sent outside to what looked like a small village. Our group was stopped just after leaving the building, the two dressed in robes seemed to be speaking to a young man who wore what looked like shorts. He pointed at a few of us before we were pulled off to the side and the rest were led away further into town. Those of us that were separated was myself, the woman who tried to help me earlier and two people who looked like.. Lizards? I couldn’t see my own face but I'm sure I must have looked just as confused as they did.

 

We were led away into a nearby wagon and that's where I recognized someone. It was one of the guys who had carried me through the woods. Was each of us in a similar situation, and that's why we were lead here? I couldn’t help but feel on edge, and by looking at the other’s it was obvious that no one had a clue what was going on but we didn’t have much choice but to do what we were told to do, or in my case following what they did. I think we left sometime in the afternoon, time quickly passed as they lead the horses through the woods. The temperature quickly dropping once the sun was no longer up. The two guys who looked like lizards cuddled together shivering, while the woman was curled up against my side asleep. I could tell by feeling her against my body that she was cold as well, but when I touched my arm I felt warm.

I don’t know how far we travelled, I fell asleep sometime in the night. By the time I woke up we had already arrived, being shaken awake by one of the others. The sun barely coming through the branches of the thick forest around us. In front of us was a small log cabin. We were lead inside and given a change of clothes. Inside there was a small living area connected to a miniature kitchen. Our bedroom consisted of two bunk beds built into the walls and we were given the choice of which one we wanted. The two lizardmen chose the bunks on the right, while I took the bottom left. We were then left alone in the house with the man who had saved me previously.

 

_ Man I wish I could understand those around me.. Wait, has anyone really been talking to each other besides the two lizards?  _ I didn’t notice it until now, but it was surprisingly quiet. I decided to take a look around, and it was quickly obvious that this place hadn’t been used in a while. Dust covered most of the empty shelves. 

_ Well, It’s better than the last ‘house’ I spent a lot of time in… but why did we all get brought here anyways?  _ I couldn’t get that last thought out of my mind. It’s obvious that we were all chosen for a reason, but that reason was still a mystery to me. I spent most of the first day helping clean the building, the wagon that brought us here left soon after so I guess this is where we will be staying for a while.

 

It has been around a week since we originally got here.

We spent the first few days cleaning up the area and pulling different barrels and crates into a storeroom that I didn’t notice when we first showed up. Although I finally figured out why we were all brought here. The one thing we all had in common was that none of us could understand each other, and each one of us was different in some way.

Every day a kind older woman who walked with a cane would show up and slowly help us learn the common language that everyone spoke, it was crude but we finally managed to exchange basic words when we needed help from each other. The reason each one of us was scouted to come here, is because the mages from the kingdom took an interest in each of us. Apparently, the group that rescued us is a different faction from the kingdom, and they believed we would be safer here. I didn’t really understand what they meant, but it was peaceful out here. We each had our duties, we would take turns cleaning up at the end of the day as others would fetch fresh water from a nearby stream. On the days when I didn’t need to do anything, I would often wander around in the woods. I felt oddly at peace in nature, when I was around the others it felt like I was always on edge like I was trying to keep something hidden. Well, I do have my entire story on how I ended up in this place, but when I was out here I just felt free.

I would often come out to a small crevice in the side of a nearby hill. I can’t tell what dug it out originally but it didn’t seem like anyone, or anything had been living here for many years, and even though we were deep in the forest we never once saw or heard any animals. I would usually just hide out here, I filled it with tall grass I ripped out from a nearby field to make it more comfortable to lay in. It was like my own private clubhouse.

 

That’s how things continued through the summer for the four of us. We spent our time living together, and slowly opening up to each other now that we learned how to all speak the same language. It was slow and difficult at first, it was obvious that we all thought it was awkward. We spent so much time not conversing with each other that it felt kind of wrong once we tried too. But I'm glad we did, it helped the days go by and made our chores easier. We all kept our own secrets though. We could never find the two lizardmen when they had no chores to complete that day, and the woman would always be tucked away either sleeping or nowhere to be found. She never did join us for our meals either. I spent my days exploring and mapping out our surroundings or hiding away in my secret place.  Sadly winter rolled around sooner than later, and we ended up stuck indoors for most of it.

 

_ I can’t feel my fingers anymore  _ I thought to myself as I held them up to my face, breathing against them in an attempt to warm them up. We constantly had to keep a fire burning in our cabin to stay warm, mainly for the two lizardmen to stay warm. I didn’t mind not having one, even though it was snowing almost non stop I never felt like I was freezing unless you count when I have to pick up logs from the nearby chopped down trees that got covered in snow. The man who originally came here with us said he had to run a few errands, and that if he didn’t leave before the snow fell he wouldn’t make it in time. So with him gone, and the two lizardmen being practically useless in this weather, I took it upon myself to be the one in charge of gathering water and firewood while Amelia worked on the house chores and taking care of the other two. I found out her name when we were finally able to hold a conversation with each other, but neither of us was able to figure out how to pronounce the other twos name, so we both gave up trying. I didn’t want to use the name I used to have, I wanted to start over with my new life, so when she asked in return to what my name was I hesitated and just said I didn’t have one. One of the two lizardmen spoke up and called me ‘Recon’ because he said he would often find me looking around the forest as if I was watching out for someone. I accepted the name, but looking back at it, it's pretty embarrassing to be called something based on my actions.

I trudged through the knee high snow in the woods dragging a fallen log behind me. It was easier to chop it into smaller pieces back at our cabin than It was cutting it up and trying to carry each individual piece back home.

 


End file.
